Lesotho cross
The story behind the Lesotho crosses stretches back some years, to when the Save the Children Fund had set up a hostel in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. It was a place where young and old from country areas could stay before and after when recovering from surgery.
While there, residents were encouraged to use their skills to produce handcrafts for sale to bring in some much-needed income. A man named Paschal, who became skilled at ironwork, created the crosses from horseshoe nails.
A bishop, seeing the crosses and appreciating their intrinsic strength and simplicity, bought one to wear as a pectoral cross. Over time a horseshoe cross was provided to every Anglican bishop in Southern Africa.
Thus identified, the cross was not adopted in Southern Africa as a symbol of Society membership as it was later in Australia.
The crosses are now being produced in Adelaide by ironworker
Christopher Smith and worn as a symbol of commitment to the Society of the Sacred Mission Australia.
To place your order for a Lesotho cross as an expression of solidarity with the Society of the Sacred Mission Australia: Cost AU$25 (plus AU$5 postage) |
